


Pop the Question; (Modern AU)

by moricat



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan, attack on titan mo
Genre: M/M, Romance, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-10
Updated: 2016-11-10
Packaged: 2018-08-30 03:32:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8516908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moricat/pseuds/moricat
Summary: I think the title pretty much explains it ;) Eren and Armin take a walk on the beach as lovers a week after graduating High School and have a special talk.~A short blurb for Isayama's Modern American High School AU!





	

Sunsets over the ocean were Armin’s favorite thing to see outside, and his favorite thing to share with Eren. A full week after finally graduating high school, the free lovers walked together in the sand, hands interlocked (as always), barefoot, smiling, never taking a moment for granted…

Armin sighed and leaned against his Eren, closing his eyes as he settled so comfortably with his back against his warm body, reveling in the bliss that was finally his. Eren’s arms wrapped around Armin’s waist and his lips left a kiss on his head. All those years they’d spent growing up together were occupying Eren’s mind…

 

“Armin?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you." 

"I love you too."

"How much?"

"Hmm... See the ocean before us? And the endless horizon out there?" 

“Yeah?"

"That's the best earthly unit of measurement of my love for you."

Eren smiled to himself. "Hmm... Do you remember the first time I said it?"

"That you love me? Of course. I'll never forget it. It was right here, actually... The ocean was calling our names and the waves were rolling non stop in the wind... You took me by the hands and looked into my eyes... I'd never seen your pupils get so big. You brought a hand to my cheek and spoke so dearly but bravely and said ' _Armin. You inspire me the way no one else does and you fill me with more strength than I can hold. I want us to be together forever. You're more than just my best friend. You’re my everything... I--'_ "

" _I love you._ "

"Yeah... I'd never blushed so hard in my life. All I've ever wanted since I was a kid was to hear you say those words. I couldn't even speak, I was so happy... All I could do was whisper your name and when I saw you lean in, I leaned in too."

"Your lips were so soft, I remember it well." 

"Really? I was so worried they were chapped--"

“No no. They're perfect. Even if they are chapped." 

"You're sweet. Sometimes it amazes me you're the same Eren who would swear out in rage as much as you did at the other team during football games. The very same Eren who holds me so close and tenderly…"

"Are you suggesting I'm losing my edge?"

“What, no no!” Armin turned around to face him as he panicked a bit. "I'm sorry, I just mean that--"

"I'm kidding.” He smiled and kissed his forehead so tenderly. 

Armin still worried he upset him though. He hugged him close. "I always feel so safe in these strong arms of yours."

“Hmm. Well as long as you’re in them, I feel like they're strong enough to do anything... Haha listen to me, I used to sneer at people who talked like this…" 

"A lot of people who do talk like this don't even mean what they say."

"Well I do…” he smiled.

"I know…" Armin smiled back.

Eren pulled back from the hug to ask him something that burdened his mind. "So... what are you gonna do now that we've graduated? I mean I know what you plan on doing but... what's your next move?..." 

Still gladly standing in Eren's arms, Armin answered sincerely. "To be honest, I don't know... It's scary to think about. College is where I belong, I guess, that’s what they’ve always told me… And I've gotten offers for scholarships but... there's... a lot I'd be leaving behind…" 

“Your childhood?"

Armin chuckled softly and turned his gaze downwards. "You could say that."

"It's not gonna leave, you know." 

“Hmm?"

"Your fun. Your happiness. Your dreams. People think that's childhood, but it's not. Those things find you again in the future. No matter how old you are. It's not something you _can_ leave behind…"

"How do you know?…"

Eren tilted his chin up to look at him and gazed deeply into those oceanic eyes... 

“What are you going to do?... What's your next move?…"

"Well, dad's making me go to college. Which is fine, I would've chosen to go anyway for the sake of our dream. But when I get there, I don't know what I'm gonna do… I can admit now that I'm not particularly talented in anything, and to be honest I don't really think I belong there…"

"You know, I love your photography. You could do something with that, maybe?"

Eren laughed. “You mean my instagram shots? We'll see. Then after that, I'll have to get a job. I don't know what kind I'd be welcome to though, since I have a bad feeling I won't be able to graduate college... Some life I'll be leading."

"You don't need a degree to have a good life." Armin brought a loving hand to Eren's cheek. "You just need your loved ones. And they're not going anywhere." 

Eren looked so sad all of a sudden "…Armin." 

Armin's smile faded again, realizing Eren was afraid of losing him. He could feel Eren clutching his arms and pulling him in closer, as if he were going to be taken away any second. "Eren... you're not going to lose me. I promise you that. I will always be yours. If you can believe in that and promise the same, we'll always be together." 

Eren's eyes suddenly became glossy as tears welled up in them. "I don't want any version of my future where we're not together." 

"Hey…" Armin held Eren's face so gently in his hands and stroked his thumbs over his eye lids to wipe away the tears. "I promised you didn't I? We will be together. YOU were not just a childhood dream to me... EVER... I'm not letting the world take us away from each other so easily. Even if we're apart my heart is still yours and only yours. As long as you love me back, nothing could ever break that tie." 

In that moment Eren found a surge of determination, that shown fiercely in his eyes as he took a step back, holding Armin's hands in his. "Armin... the reason why I brought you here is because there's something I want to ask you."

Armin looked on with such confusion. 

Suddenly Eren was down on one knee, looking up at Armin with all of his emotions laid out before him on his face. Armin’s eyes opened wide and sparkled as he swiftly brought his hand over his own mouth with a gasp. 

"Armin Arlert... I love you _so_ much. With all my heart and more, I do. Ever since we were kids, I'd felt it in my heart that we should be together forever, and to this day it's only ever gotten stronger. I want to be with you, always… So… so I want to make it official… I-I know I don’t have much to offer you. I don’t have a job, or money, or a plan,- I don’t even have a ring to give you… but I will give you everything I _do_ have. All my love, my heart, my body, my mind, and my soul, _everything_ I have, I offer it up to you… My dream has always been to spend my life with you. I’ll do everything in my power to make you happy. Whatever happens, I just wanna be with you... I want us to be together. Forever... Whatever your answer is, this is my proposal to you… Armin… will you marry me?”

**_“Yes!”_** In less than a heartbeat Armin cried his answer, he couldn’t say it fast enough. His cheeks blushed their brightest, to match his eyes all aglow, sparkling and gleaming like never before. Somewhere in the back of his mind he thanked God that he could see Eren crystal clear before him right now with no lens in between… (And Eren was grateful as well for the view).

“Y-yes?”

“ _Yes_ , of course, _yes_ , I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life, I want to be with you forever, Eren!”

Eren smiled and happy sobs began to burst forth from his lips.

“Now come here, please!” Armin grinned, and tugged at his hands to pull him back up to him as quickly as possible.

Eren happily rose up to embrace his lover and crash his lips into his. His arms enveloped Armin, as if encasing him as a partner for life, while Armin’s arms held him so close it felt like he was trying to merge with him. With the kiss to seal their deal complete, Eren broke away to raise Armin into the air and spin around with him, so elated he felt like they could fly. With a few deep breaths, Eren pulled him back into a gentle hug, just letting the dreamy feelings wash over them for a while… Armin rested his head on Eren’s shoulder, eyes closed, with thoughts of a future with Eren rushing through his mind. Whatever happened, it would be the two of them facing it together. Whatever struggles they might endure, they would be enduring it together. Every happy moment in their destiny, they would share it together… for the rest of their lives… _Forever!_ The full scope of such a fate clear as the daylight sky to him… A dream come true… reality now matched his dreams. 

Eren looked out at the sunset in front of him through the tears in his eyes, still reeling from the amazing event that just transpired. Armin agreed to marry him. Armin agreed to being with him forever. He agreed without a second thought. The future… he had a future now… not just one he could actually plan for, but- one that he _looked forward_ to... “Armin?”

“Yeah?”

“…I-- will do whatever it takes to give us our dream… I hope you didn’t think I’d ever forgotten… I love you and I want to make that a reality for us. Seeing the world is a big task, especially for a couple of kids just out of high school with no idea what we’re doing beyond this moment… But you told me with those eyes of yours that you _wanted_ to see the world with me, and I want us to work towards it from here...”

“Eren--" Armin began crying and raised up to look at him again. Tears poured from his eyes as he gazed into the gleaming grey ones of the man he could now honestly call his future husband... He smiled as warmly as the summer sun. The rosy sunset behind him brought a glow to his hair and framed him so beautifully to Eren… he looked like an angel or god on earth, and Eren had the blessed privilege of loving him… Armin returned his lips to Eren’s, neither of them paying mind to the tide rolling in around their ankles and over their feet. Though once so scary, the future was no matter to fear any longer. It was no match for their love.

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't write this in any of my modern AU fics yet but Armin is depicted wearing glasses in Isayama Sensei's art for this AU and since it's important to me as a writer that Armin sees the world clearly, I headcanoned at some point that Eren eventually convinced him to take them off because he doesn't need them, it's all in his head (and he loves to see his eyes~) 
> 
> Eventually, I'll do art of this for eremin week featuring the other students' reactions ;3
> 
> Also, hopefully you also get that while Eren doesn't want to lose Armin, that's not why he proposed so young lol


End file.
